Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Iranian revolutionaries accused of torture

According to this report, from the Guardian, an Iranian group some call terrorists, while others claim are "freedom fighters" backed by elements in the US and Britain have been accused of torture:

However, the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, calls them a "a nasty terrorist organisation" and British officials are barred from contact. The Mujahideen are officially proscribed but their British backers want the terrorist designation lifted.
Refugees from the Mujahideen we traced in the Netherlands include Ardeshir Pahrizkari, who walks on crutches. His back and feet were broken, he told us, when he was punched, kicked and had chairs thrown at him at a mass meeting to denounce him organised by his commander.
His crime, he says, was to object to "self-criticism" sessions and the beating up of internal dissidents. "They use Stalinist methods to get rid of even a spark of opposition".

What charming people! And if there is regime change in Iran, these are the people likely to be in charge, is that what all the blood thirsty war mongers out there really want?
See all recent "A Logical Voice" posts

4 Comments:

Ah yes. The good old Mujahedin-e Khalq. The one terrorist group that was known to be working with Saddam. But with their political wing having an office in Washington, the U.S. thought best not to mention them in the lead up to the war.

This group has a history of terrorism and murder. What the bloodthirsty warmongers would like to see happen in Iran is an overthrow of the Islamist tyranny and a Persian national democracy established. Unlike Iraq, Iran is a true nation and not a construct from Anglo-French imperial meddling.What would the editors like to see happen in Iran?

The U.S. State Department's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter?

What the editors would like to see has been stated repeatedly in the past. But for those possessing no memory, I shall repeat it.

We would like to see is Iran left alone unfettered by threat of illegal military action (threatening violence is illegal under international law). We would like a chance for the peaceful reform method that had been burgeoning to have a chance to surface again after hardliners were given an excuse to suppress it in the face of threats credible of violence from other nations, most namely the U.S.

Allan, I would repeat what djeb has stated, Iran should have been left alone. The amount of hate mongering and war mongering towards Iran fuelled the more conservate elements in Iran to adopt a more anti western approach, while the reformists were basically pushed out. Before the US began its hate filled rhetoric towards Iran, the country was changing, and becoming more moderate.